Prime Minister David Cameron resigned following the result on Friday morning , saying: "I will do everything I can to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months, but I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination."

Sterling fell sharply against the dollar and the euro overnight.

Against the euro on Friday lunchtime, the pound was down just under 5% at 1.25. This will mean holidaymakers travelling to the Eurozone getting less when exchanging money.

Market analysts Bloomberg reported that it was the quickest drop in the value of the pound since 1971

The pound was down even more against the US dollar, possibly in part due to uncertainty over the Euro itself after the UK's 'Leave' vote.

In almost unprecedented scenes, the pound's value tumbled more than 10 cents in just a few hours.

Market analysts Bloomberg reported it was the quickest drop in the value of the pound since 1971.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney subsequently stepped in to announce £250bn of support to the markets and that saw sterling creep back from the low of $1.33 and reach $1.392.

Alex Edwards, head of dealing desk at UKForex, said: "The pound has recovered off of this morning's low.

"Carney offered some reassurance to a market desperate for it.

"The US reaction will be interesting and we could still see fresh lows in the pound today."

Analysts said £100bn could be wiped off the value of shares on Friday.

Former Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable said: “I think the implications are very, very major, both economic and political.

“We probably will have a bloodbath on the financial markets.”

He added there would be political chaos as “all the things we’ve been warning about and were accused of scaremongering [about] are proved as real”.

The pound dipped shortly after Sunderland declared for 'Leave'

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst for foreign exchange firm OANDA, said at 4am on Friday: "The over-confidence in the UK to vote to remain in the EU has seriously come back to bite traders in the early hours."

The fall after Sheffield's shock 'Leave' result came hours after the pound took a sharp dip against the dollar earlier after Sunderland voted decisively for Brexit.

The northern city was always expected to vote 'Leave' but it rolled home with more than 61% for an Out vote - more than expected.

Reuters reported sterling fell as low as $1.4351, more than wiping out all the gains that had lifted it above $1.50 for the first time this year on the back of an earlier YouGov opinion poll.